A brief history of social housing in Spain: residential architecture and housing policies in the 19th and 20th centuries

Abstract

The history of social housing in Spain over the last two centuries has been influenced by factors of political and economic instability that have affected the entire country. This research examines these factors through the analysis of official legislative documentation and other bibliographic sources. This article covers different study periods, defined by significant historical circumstances, during which housing policies responded to the sociopolitical context of each moment. This study pays special attention to the management instruments that were implemented, as well as the nature of residential architectures and urban solutions that emerged as a consequence. The result is a social housing landscape that presents significant shortcomings and deficiencies, prefiguring a situation of vulnerability in the face of the economic crisis of the early 21st century.